Since 1993, the Combat Maneuver
Training Center (CMTC) at Hohenfels, Germany, has trained U.S. and Allied units for
stability and support operations (SASO). With the declaration of U.S. participation in the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia
(FRY)--Operations JOINT ENDEAVOR and JOINT GUARD--the CMTC has focused SASO training
specifically on requirements for the Balkan region. The intelligence community in Europe
has helped CMTC to develop the proper operational environment and training scenarios. CMTC
conducts two types of training on a regular basis: individual replacement training (IRT)
and unit mission rehearsals, known as Mountain Eagle exercises.

Individual Replacement Training

IRT began as a commander in
chief-directed, theater-specific training program for every individual--every soldier,
sailor, airman, marine, and civilian deploying to the FRY. CMTC looked at the implicit
hazards in the mission and developed a three-day training program to prepare individuals
for the environment into which they will deploy. The terrain and weather at CMTC, located
in southern Bavaria, are very much like what they will experience in Bosnia, Hungary, or
Croatia. Additionally, all students wear body armor, Kevlar, and load-bearing equipment
and carry weapons during training to prepare them for the highest force protection posture
they will experience. Finally, the training exposes students to the hazards--environmental
and hostile forces--associated with the mission and gives them the fieldcraft and force
protection skills necessary to counter those hazards.

Each training cycle begins with a mine detonation to get the students'
attention. As they watch the mine catapult a vehicle into the air, they quickly gain an
appreciation for the violently destructive capability of mines they may face. The training
continues with two days of classroom instruction to introduce the students to the theater,
explain the potential hazards, and demonstrate the skills with as much hands-on training
as possible. The classes include the blocks of instruction shown in Figure 1.

The last day of IRT consists of two situational training
exercises that allow students to apply their classroom training as they--

Deal with reporters.

Search vehicles and personnel at a checkpoint.

Provide local security.

Encounter mines or booby traps.

React to snipers, ambushes, or artillery.

The situations students encounter are similar to those that some
individuals serving in Bosnia have experienced. Or they are the situations representing
worse-case scenarios that the students must be prepared to face.

CMTC has trained more than 26,000 students since the fall of 1995.
Individuals do not become experts in SASO or the Balkan region as a result of their
training at CMTC. However, IRT students depart CMTC situationally aware of the risks
associated with Operation JOINT GUARD and trained to minimize those risks.

U.
S. soldier with COB (civilian on the battlefield) at a checkpoint during a Mountain Eagle
exercise.

Mission Rehearsals

While the focus of IRT is on the
individual, Mountain Eagle exercises focus on training units for the operations they will
conduct as part of the NATO mission in the FRY. CMTC conducted the first Mountain Eagle
mission rehearsal in the summer of 1995 and has conducted four more since, each building
on the experiences and lessons learned from units that have served in Bosnia, Croatia, and
Hungary.

CMTC replicates the operational environment into which a unit will
deploy by defining its area of operations and by providing a similar laydown in the CMTC
maneuver box. CMTC has two base camps and five towns in the box to help create a realistic
model environment. Additionally, units have transformed sections of Camp Albertshof--where
training units typically set up administrative operations during their rotations--into
models of the base camps in and around the Tuzla Valley. CMTC creates the interentity
boundary line, zone of separation, and mine threat that the unit is likely to experience.
Additionally, CMTC's opposing force (OPFOR, 1-4 Infantry) and professional "civilians
on the battlefield" (COBs) play the roles of--

Officers of the entities' armed forces.

Mayors and residents of various towns around U.S. base camps.

Representatives of international organizations working in Bosnia.

International media.

All of this sets the conditions for a successful rehearsal of a unit's
operational tempo and contingency missions.

The heart of a Mountain Eagle is the rehearsing of the various missions
that a unit will conduct, including those that represent worst-case events. Units conduct
a transition of authority (TOA) with role players representing the departing unit to gain
a full understanding of their sector and the issues involved. The OPFOR and COB help
surface local issues as soon as a unit occupies its base camp. The unit then conducts
routine peace support operations, such as patrols and inspections of weapons storage
sites, to reinforce application of the Rules of Engagement, standard operating procedures,
and Task Force Eagle (TFE) policies and procedures. Soldiers practice patience and refine
their negotiation and problem-solving skills. Finally, CMTC presents the unit with certain
problem sets that force soldiers to rehearse contingency plans and combat skills. These
problem sets are drawn from events that have actually happened in Bosnia or from those
that TFE leaders believe could happen as a result of resettlement problems, increased
ethnic tensions, challenges at a weapons storage site, or detention of an indicted war
criminal.

Conclusion

CMTC continues to maintain
contact with G2s and S2s who have experience in Operations JOINT ENDEAVOR and JOINT GUARD
to stay abreast of the operational environment and threat assessments. CMTC also sends its
observer/controllers to visit units in Bosnia and bring back lessons learned, updated
assessments, specific TFE products, and recommendations to improve both the individual and
the unit training.

Major Phillips
is currently a TF S2 O/C at CMTC. In Germany, she has served as an intelligence writer at
the Combat Maneuver Training Center and as the S2 for Operations Group, CMTC. She has held
a variety of tactical and strategic MI jobs, including the All-Source Production Section
officer in charge for the G2, 2d Infantry Division, in Korea; Electronic Warfare Platoon
Leader, A Company, 102d MI Battalion, 2d ID; Intelligence Analyst at the Joint Tactical
Intelligence Center, Washington, DC; Assistant S3 and, later, S4, 102d MI Battalion; and
Commander, B Company, 102d MI Battalion. MAJ Phillips was a Distinguished Military
Graduate of the Loyola University-Chicago ROTC program. She holds a Master of Science in
Strategic Intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College and a master of arts degree
in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University. Readers can contact the
author via E-mail at [email protected] and telephonically at 011
09472 83 2301 and DSN 466-2301.